Living, Missing, Fearing
by Veridissima
Summary: In the middle of the Riverlands, a bastard blacksmith, a lioness from the South and a wolf from the North try to live together, until everything changes when they meet a vampire. Fill for the second day of Ghost Ship Challenge - Paranormal creatures


This is a fill for the second day of Ghost Ships Challenge - prompt: Paranormal Creatures

English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes

Also, I don't own ASOIAF.

Enjoy!

* * *

Myrcella had never seen a real vampire before, she had never believed in them before, she thought they were just stories uncle Tyrion told – but now there she was trying to stop one – at least Arya said he was a vampire – _and he does smell different._

Both Arya and Myrcella had been capable of overthrowing him, of course they weren't in their human forms, Arya was a dangerous grey wolf and Myrcella was a glorious lioness. But the problem was that his skin could so easily regenerate, that any scrap would heal too fast, not slow enough for them to take him home, until she heard the man (_can he still be called a man? You still call yourself a woman even if you're part animal_) yell in agony as she saw Arya's claws pierce his skin, making a cut so profound she was sure Arya could feel his entrails.

Myrcella wanted to tell Arya to stop, but her friend was always too far away when she changed – more wolf than human… _and that scares me._

Arya picked his body with her teeth, threw him on her back and started running back to their small cabin in the woods; Myrcella tried to catch up, yet Arya was always the fastest runner, but even with their distance she could notice how the man didn't drop blood and how it smelled like burned and rotten meat.

The smell of the burned and rotten meat soon started mixing with the smell of steel being melded and that familiar smell of sweat, and she knew she was closer to home. She changed back to her human form just before reaching the house next to the trees where she always left her crimson cloak – she was a girl of five-and-ten, with emerald eyes (as the former Queen), blond curls that were the exactly same colour as her fur and a scar that covers half her face from the first time she met Arya (Arya as a wolf, of course).

When she finally joined them, Arya was still naked having just transformed back to her human form and asking Gendry for help moving the vampire to the small cage that he had built.

"I can help Gendry. Go get dressed, Arya."

"Thank you, 'Cella." Arya dropped the part she was holding on Myrcella's shoulder, walking away while she and Gendry walked him to the cell – he wasn't as heavy as she thought he would be, technically his dead… she couldn't hear his heartbeat.

"What happened?" Gendry asked, he knew that the only prisoners they have taken before were Freys, and this man didn't look like one.

"Arya said she could smell a vampire, so…"

"You couldn't smell it?!"

"I didn't know how a vampire smelled or even that they existed."

"I've learned that maybe every magic creature in my mama's stories is real, the day I saw Arya transform for the first time." He said while he looked so far way, probably in the time where he would sit in his mother's knee and hear her voice – at least that was what Myrcella missed – or seeing Arya for the first time, no matter what it was – it was love.

After the vampire was resting in the cage, Myrcella got a good look at his cut, it looked that Arya's claws had ruptured his bowels, but that has already healed, Myrcella could see the bones coming together.

"We need to talk." She heard Arya's voice, and quickly followed her and Gendry to a clearing nearby – it reminded her of the small Godswood in the Red Keep, she thought that was why Arya cherished this place so much, it reminded her of the Godswood in Winterfell.

Arya was walking from one place to another, biting her lip in the way that Myrcella knew she was thinking; Myrcella sat on a log looking at her and at Gendry who stayed put with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"He can't be alone. Myrcella and I will take shifts…"

"I can help." Gendry urged.

"No way. We don't know how strong he is, he could kill you in a heartbeat…" She came closer to him, brought her hand to his cheek, looking him in the eye and whispered. "I'm not risking you, never." Myrcella felt like she was intruding in a private moment, but soon Arya had recomposed herself – even if her fingers stayed interlocked with Gendry's – and turned to her friend. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Who takes the first watch?"

"I can do it, unless you mind doing the night watch."

"I don't mind. I'll try and sleep for a bit, wake me up when you're tired." Maybe sleeping when the sun was still up would keep the nightmares away, she was tired of waking up in cold sweat.

Home… it wasn't even theirs, it was just what remained from what had been a village before it was pillaged and the people killed by The Mountain's men – she remembered seeing him in court with her grandfather, The Mountain That Rides made his brother, The Hound, look like a puppy – looking for the Brotherhood Without Banners.

The only house still standing was next to the forge where Gendry spend his days, making the swords he sold (their only source of money, unless you counted the money they take from the people they killed), it had two bedchambers, a small kitchen and a privy; she and Arya used to share one of the bedchambers, but since last year when the nature of Arya and Gendry's relationship changed Myrcella started sleeping alone.

She walked into her room, and unlaced her cloak laying it on the bed – Arya had given it to her, it had belonged to a Lannister that her _friend_ choose to take revenge on – and put on a tunic and breeches, she remembered the young Princess who loved dresses in the yellow and black of the Baratheons or the crimson and gold of the Lannisters, and she climbed inside the bed and tried to fell asleep.

When Myrcella woke up it was already dark outside, and Arya was above her on, shaking her awake.

"It's your turn. Gendry and I just ate, we left the rest for you. We are going to bed now, scream if you need anything."

"Okay." Myrcella said, still a bit drowsy and trying to process everything. "Has he wakened yet?"

"Yes and he is fully healed too, but he hasn't made any move to attack." She nodded her head, understanding what Arya was saying and got out of bed and put on her cloak. She followed Arya outside and found Gendry trying to ignore the vampire, who kept mocking him, she could see how his knuckles were turning white with rage, he calmed when Arya touched his arm and led them inside.

"So the she-wolf is the one who wears the pants! You're a whipped man!" The vampire yelled laughing, it was the first time she heard his voice besides that scream in agony and his voice sounded almost melodic, made for singing… maybe he had been a singer before everything.

Myrcella ate in silence, but she could feel his eyes on her, never leaving her body, she wondered what he thought about her – _does he think I'm a monster? But that would make him a monster too._

"The wolf girl is giving him a blowjob." Myrcella almost choked on her food, but was able to stop and ignore his comment. "Is that what you are, sister-wives? You take turns in his bed?" She tried to ignore him again, she knew that by this moment Arya would have punched him (not that caused any damage).

He noticed that she kept ignoring him, so without any glimpse of mocking he asked "Can't you hear them? This is probably one of the things I hate the most about my abilities."

"No. While I'm in my human form I'm normal." She wondered if she should be saying this to an enemy.

"Oh… I miss being normal, not that I was ever normal." She wondered about his answer and wondered about how old was he, could he be alive before Aegon's landing – he seemed to be as old as Gendry even a bit younger but that could also be because Gendry was taller and broader than the other men his age, making him always look older than he actually was.

"Can I know your name?" Myrcella asked. "I'm sure you have heard ours."

"You're Myrcella, the boy is Gendry and the other girl is named Arya."

"Right. You?"

"They used to call me Young Griff."

"But that's not your name."

"No." He said and didn't seem to want to develop more.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"You've been asking." Myrcella stood up, finishing that piece of bread (that Gendry had bought from his and Arya's friend, Hot Pie, the last time he left their woods and saw other people – normal people), she wondered if she should offer him something but she didn't know what consequences that would bring, so she sat in a rock closer to his cage.

"Why don't you just break the bars?"

"What makes you believe I can?"

"My uncle read a lot, he told me how vampires were really strong, and almost nothing could stop them."

"What else did he tell you?"

"It's your turn to answer." For a few moments Myrcella thought he wouldn't but them he spoke.

"What did you learn we feed on?"

"Human blood." She whispered, taking a step back.

"I think that's true. But we can live with normal food and a little bit of animal blood. But it make us weaker, I'm still stronger than a human but not as strong as most of the other vampires… I think…"

"So why don't you drink human blood if you know it will make you stronger?" She wondered, it was a scary question, something she never thought herself asking.

"Do you? When you are a lion, do you eat your species? Do you eat humans?" He asked, and she immediately shook her head. She couldn't do it, but she suspected Arya had, a few times – she was always more wolf than girl. "You know, I tried it once, right after I changed, the only thing I knew about vampires was how they sucked the humam blood and I didn't know I could live any other way. I found a man, a drunk man, by the docks with no one – I wasn't about to kill a man with people who cared for him or who was someone's father – I just looked for someone I thought it would be easier for me to kill…" He was lost in his memories for a moment, while she wondered in what he said _I wasn't about to kill a man with people who cared for him or who was someone's father_, and she knew, just like her, Arya or Gendry, he was an orphan, someone who lost their family, but maybe not to an awful war – he was a vampire, his family could have died centuries ago of old age, but it didn't seem to hurt any less. "You know the taste of blood caries everything, every poisonous thing you have done to your body – drinking, deceases you have, just to mention a few – shows up in your blood…" Myrcella kept looking at his face – his eyes – trying to read him, forgetting he was a dead creature, and she reached for his hand but he immediately pulledaway.

"What else did your uncle teach you?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Garlic keeps vampires away."

"It's kind of a lie."

"Kind of?!"

"Do you like the smell of garlic?" She shook her head. "So try it when you're a lion, with your increased sense of smell." And it did make sense, and it was so simple, making them laugh.

"You can't enter a sacred place? Like a Godswood or a sept?"

"Isn't this a kind of Godswood?! And I, for sure, have entered the red temple in Pentos. A sept, I just don't know." A red temple, the Lord of Light, she remembered seeing Thoros and his flaming sword – she knew that he was know with the Brotherhood.

"Who do you pray to?" She asked.

"I don't know, no one in particular. But I did learn about all of them. You?"

"The Seven Gods, I think." She hadn't been in a sept in a long time, she remembered praying to the Mother… but her mother still died – no mercy for her. "Arya used to pray to the Old Gods – that's why she still likes this place – but she now she believes her God is death. And Gendry follows the Lord of Light mostly but he has praid with me to the Seven."

"What do you ask for?"

"Mercy, strength and wisdom."

"Do they concede it?" She wasn't going to say no.

"Sometimes."

"I'm sorry for the times they didn't."

After he said that, they are both silence, but not an awkward silence, it was reassuring, making them both feel at peace.

As the sky became darker and darker, Myrcella grew more tired even believing that Young Griff wouldn't hurt her or Arya or Gendry, she still couldn't fell assleep, she had promissed to stay awake. He didn't fell asleep either, but she didn't know if he didn't because he was afraid of them, or just because he was a vampire and he slept during the day or even never slept, so she decided to ask.

"Do vampires sleep?"

"We don't need to, but we can."

"During the day?"

"Anytime we want. But while sleep to you lets you recharge your energies, we don't need to do that, so sleep is opitional."

"Do _you_ sleep?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Would you sleep if you had the chance not to?" Myrcella was surprised to see how easy it was to answer.

"No."

"Why?" He didn't answer and she wondered why should she.

"Nightmares." She whispered.

"Now, you know my reason too." She wondered what his nightmares were about, Myrcella's were mostly about her mother, sometimes she was being killed (the executioner changed, sometimes it was Illyn Payne, other her own father – Robert – or other times Arya), most times her mother was calling for her – sometimes she told her she loved her, others that she hated her for leaving and never coming back – other times she woke up in cold sweat after dreaming that Arya had killed every Lannister and was now coming after her to avenge the North.

"You're thinking too much…" He murmered.

"I'm sorry."

"You can tell me if you want."

"Do you want to tell me something?" She asked.

"Not now, maybe someday." She nodded her head, agreeing with him.

* * *

It had been seven days and seven nights since they captured him, and Myrcella had finally convinced Arya that it was safe for Aegon to live outside the cage, and that he didn't need supervision all the time, they were still careful about what they fed him – the rule was no meat or anything with blood, just vegetables.

Arya still kept away for him, she always had a hard time trusting people especially someone she knew that could kill her so easily; Gendry seemed to like to have another man around, and Aegon sometimes sat around the forge while Gendry worked; but Myrcella was the one who had taken more to him, she had always felt that she was bothering Gendry and Arya and holding them down, that maybe they wanted to live alone, maybe even start a family, and Aegon had became a friend, someone she could trust and talk to.

The full moon that had been high of the sky during the first night Aegon spent with them had now turned in a new moon, meaning it was time for Gendry to visit the village and get the things they needed. He and Myrcella had been able to convince Arya to let Aegon go with him – two men were always better than one, especially if one of them wasn't a man at all. Neither of the girls ever went with him, Arya was afraid and delaying meeting the woman they called Lady Stoneheart – a dead version of her mother – and Myrcella was a living reminder of hers, people would always want her dead, Arya and Gendry had suggested that she cut her hair, but she couldn't say goodbye to the golden curls she got from her mother who would spend hours brushing it.

They took two days, because Gendry didn't like travelling during the night, they left in the morning and came back in the next afternoon, staying in the Crossroads Inn. As usually Arya worried about him and the dangerous in the forest – Myrcella couldn't decide if Griff was making Arya worry more or less – and to get her mind off her worries and mostly for food, they went hunting in their animal forms that made it easier, Myrcella would caught the animal by surprise and Arya would be the one to kill it (almost every time), they came back around mid-day, before the boys arrived, with one stag, two foxes, five ducks and one boar, which Myrcella was the one to kill.

After they had eaten their mid-day meal and put the rest of the food in a safe place, Myrcella had retired inside to read the few books she still had, but by the small window she could see Arya biting her lower lip and pacing around the Goodswood, waiting for them to show up, it was already later than the time he usually arrived, it was already the sunset.

When they finally arrived, Arya ran to Gendry's arms checking if he was okay and alive, then punching him for taking so long; Myrcella, already making her way outside, heard Young Griff's voice, sadder and suffering than usually.

"It was my fault. I'm sorry."

"See if it doesn't happen again." Arya said in her protective voice, she only used when talking about Gendry or the few times she actually talked about her family.

"It won't." He said with such certainty.

"I know you're a vampire and everything. But being only mortal, the trip has made me tired. So good night."

"I can prepare you dinner." Arya offered, and Mycella laughed at the girl she had met in Winterfell who said she would be no man's wife – and now there she was, sharing a house, a bedroom and cooking for a man.

"No, thanks. We ate. I just wanna lay down." Gendry made his way inside, petting Myrcella's head, droping the bag full of things, before going to their bedchamber, Arya showed up after him ready to help her but she immediately said.

"Go to him. I can clean this up."

"Thank you. Good night."

Myrcella put everything in its place, but even with a kitchen so small (she remembered the kitchen in the Red Keep where Tommen and her would steal sweets from) she knew there were things missing especially with one more man making the trip. She looked outside and saw the bag resting next to Young Griff who was sitting in the grass deep in thought, she walked up to him and when she was closer she spoke up.

"Are you feeling well?"

"No." He answered in a cold voice, and she was getting worried.

"Why?" She asked and suprisingly he turned, his eyes just like the rest of him were dead, looking her in a cold glaze.

"Because the people I trusted are killers!" He yelled at her, steping closer, but still at a normal pace. She wondered want he meant, she never killed no one, and the ones they killed were Freys (or Lannisters) – but she knew it was only the ones involved on the Red Wedding or any other treacheryagainst good people, it was the Hangwoman who killed any Bolton, Frey or Lannister without distinction.

"I never killed a person. And even if I did who were you to judge!"

"I don't rape innocent woman! I don't stab people I were suppose to serve, in the back! I don't stab to death four-year old girls!" He yelled even louder, and she could see tears in his eyes; and Myrcella understood who he was talking about. "Your family did! How could I ever trust you?!"

"I never..."

"You lied. What's your fucking last name? Or Arya's for what matters?"

"I'm..."

"You're nothing. If I hadn't gone with Gendry and heard the whispers and found out he's one of the many bastards your father had while he detroyed Westeros with his drinking annd whoring. I should have figure it out, you both spoke too well to be commom girls, and you look like the slut your mother was..."

Before anyone knew it, Myrcella had slapped him the harder she could.

"Dare to say another word about my mother! Or my family! And I'll rip you open!" She could feel her blood boiling, wanting and preparing to change but she tried and was able to calm her body.

"Family! Your mother was a slut, you don't even know who your father is!" She tried to slap him again, but he stoped her hand almost crushing her wrist and she screamed in pain.

"Let me go!" She yelled as he pushed her way, and she took several steps back, now truly scared of him, when she thought she had enough space (even if he could be next to her even before she said one word, if he wanted) "Who are you? I'm guessing you lied too." She suspected he was a Targaryen, by his looks and his talk, she wondered who could he be – maybe he grew up in the Red Keep too when the dragon skulls were in the throne room and not hidden under the Keep.

"Why?! Are you going to try and kill me like your grandfather did?!" _No, I just want to know who is this man I trusted..._

"What do you mean?" _He can't be, he just can't..._

"You have figured it out. Smarter than your _father_." He spat after saying the word _father_.

"You should be dead... You can't..."

"Do you want me gone?!" _No... I want to never know who you are._ "You can't answer, not as good at pretending as your slut of a mother."

"She's not a slut!" She screamed again and knew she hated him in that moments.

"And my name is not Aegon!" He said sarcastly, _so it is true…_ "Just shut up!"

"You're an asshole, no wonder your father left you to die!" She screamed, and a few seconds later she regreted it, seeing the pain in his eyes.

He disappeared inside the house dropping the bag and coming back in less than the time she would take to count to five; he then made his way to the woods. Myrcella stormed off to the house, she was feeling sadness and anger through Young Griff_... no... his name is not Griff, it's Aegon who if it hadn't been for my family and Arya's, he would be Aegon VI Targaryen..._

She unpacked the bag he brought inside, this one wasn't just food, there were clothes for all of then (she noticed leaner man clothes which could only be for him, they would be too tight on Gendry – he wanted to stay...), there was also new metal for the forge and coal for the fire – Gendry had never been able to carry that much. There was also more parchment, plates and other house things that had been missing for too long.

After she finished the things on the kitchen, separating the clothes (putting Grif... Aegon's in a small wooden chair in the corner) and moved the metal and part of the coal to the forge, she went to Gendry and Arya's room carrying their clothes, she knocked on the door and nobody answered, knowing that they were both sleeping she entered. Gendry was on the left side of the small cot almost pushed out of it, Arya was lying sideways, with her arm hitting Gendry's face and one of her legs in top of his, the cover was made for a smaller bed so they were only covered to their waists - she didn't know what they would do when the winter truly arrived to the Riverlands.

She dropped their clothes in a small and ruined chest, still separated in his and hers - even knowing Arya would end up hearing his tunics.

Still trying to make the less noise possible she walked out their room to hers, but before she entered it, she found, in a far way corner of the kitchen, something which called to her attention - it was a book.

She picked it up and read the cover _The Art and Story of the Sellsword from Norvos and the Painter from Lys_, she had never heard of that book before, and she knew it wasn't theirs – there were just a few books around the house and they were all in Myrcella's room. She had brought two when she had to run and the others she had got during her journeys, and the others didn't keep books – Gendry couldn't read (Arya had tried to taught him but it always ended up with them fighting and then Myrcella tried, it didn't do much better either, so he just knew how to read orders for the forge and write his name, Arya's and Myrcella's) and Arya preferred to hear other people telling her stories.

She opened the book and inside found a message, it was for her.

_Cella,_

_I read this book when I was your age. Perfect choice for you._

_Love, passion and adventure – everything you deserve…_

_Your vampire_

The book couldn't have been bought there, the village didn't sell books, this was a rare and expensive book, he must have gone to White Harbor during the night, so he could get it for her, she was now feeling bad about how they parted – she knew both of them said things they shouldn't, but neither of them was to blame for their families past mistakes.

She went to her room, changed to something more comfortable to sleep in, lay down and started reading the book, until sleep took her.

The next morning, she was woken up by Arya asking _why wasn't Griff there_.

"He left." Myrcella whispered.

"Why?!" Arya asked suspiciously.

"We fought last night."

"Why?!"

"Arya…" Myrcella didn't want to talk about it.

"You need to tell us."

"Let me just get up and get dressed. I'll meet you both outside to break fast."

Myrcella quickly changed and walked outside, they were drinking real cow milk – she remembered when she had the chance to drink it everyday, in the morning and before going to bed – and eating fresh bread.

"So what happened?" Arya asked her in the moment she saw her, Myrcella took her place in front of them and told them what happened. How Young Griff was Aegon, from the family that their parents had fought, but she didn't tell them about the harsh words they shared. Gendry was the first of them to speak.

"He didn't seem mad."

"He wasn't. It is said that every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air – the two sides are madness and greatness – and that's how they would decide." _He isn't mad and he could have been great._

"He asked me if he could stay, when we were making our way too the village. I was sure he ran away when he didn't appear in the morning to eat, that's why we only arrived at night." _So he had really gone far away to get her a book._

"I'm sure, he's fine. Maybe, it's safer, just us three." Arya said, and Myrcella couldn't understand how having one less person to defend our home, made it safer.

Myrcella sat there, looking at Arya playfully eating Gendry and she felt jealous of the kind of the relationship they had, Aegon had made her feel less alone… Now she missed him and wondered if she could leave too.

She wondered where would she go, her mother was dead – she couldn't go to her – but her grandfather was also dead, she could finally go home… There was her brother, little Tommen, maybe he could change too, they could train and learn together… But then she remembered the Tyrells who had the power over her brother who were controlling the realm, who killed their mother and saved Queen Margaery. _I'm a lioness, I can destroy a rose and get my brother back…_

She ignored these thoughts for now; she went back to the house for the book and kept reading the story of two people who should never have fallen in love… But as she had learned, love ignored every law, and didn't care about family, ages, money… just how they felt…

* * *

She had another nightmare and she was still stuck in the past when she heard a soft voice whisper to her, while stroking her hair.

"Everything is going to be fine. Nobody is going to hurt you..."

She slowly opened her eyes and found a lock of silver hair next to her and purple bluish eyes looking at her.

"What are you doing here? You left..."

"I heard you scream, I thought that it would help you. I wasn't expecting for you to wake up."

"Why?"

"Because you never do."

"Have you done this before?" She asked scared that he spent his nights looking at her.

"Sometimes when you yell, I come in and check if you're okay." She thanked him and he made a move to leave but she reached for his wrist and whispered.

"Stay... Please..." She scooted and let him lay down next to her. "Thank you... And I'm sorry, I should have never said _that_." She wondered what did she meant by _that_.

"I shouldn't either. Especially about your mother… you always call for her…" Most of her dreams were about her mother…

His arms were around her waist, and he grabbed her hand tightly when he whispered. "I'm sorry she died…" And he was the first person to tell her that and actually meant it – to remember that even if she wasn't a good ruler or a good Queen, she was someone's mother.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about your family too." He kissed her shoulder as a response and then she felt the weird feeling in the pit of her belly she had been feeling for longer she would like to admit.

She relaxed against him, and closed her eyes, trying to fell asleep but images of her dream kept coming back.

It was her tenth nameday, when she woke up to her mom at the bedside table, she remembered trying to speak and only roaring and then looking at her self and seeing fur and claws. Her mother climbed in bed with her and petted her fur until she was able to calm herself and changed back to her human form; she hugged her mother and cried in her arms… She remembered the words she said like it was yesterday, always ringing in her mind.

"_Sweet girl, you have to run."_

"_Nooo…mom… I want to stay."_

"_You can't." _

"_Don't you love me anymore?" She asked between sobs._

"_I will always love you." Her mother held her face and looked her in the eyes. "Never, never forget that…"_

"_So why do I have to leave?"_

"_Because this wasn't a one time thing, you will keep changing… And people will want to hurt you."_

"_Can you?" Myrcella asked, wanting to have something more in common with her mother._

"_I could. When I turned 10, I changed just like you." She said, kissing the top of her head. "But your grandfather didn't like the idea of a girl carrying this power so he gave me a potion which made me loose everything."_

"_I could take it. And then I could stay here with you."_

"_It's not a good thing, sweet girl. When I took it, it was like half of myself was gone, my heart had hole… it still has… I can't let the same happen to you."_

"_Maybe, grandfather won't…"_

"_He will. Like he did Tyrion when he turned 10. And like he waited wishfully for Jaime or Joffrey to change." Myrcella was shocked by every thing her mom was telling her. "Your grandfather will die someday, and you, my girl, will carry on living." _

She still remembered every expression in her mother's face, and she was sure that Aegon had been right about her grandfather – he was a monster, he even hurt his own children… She remembered how her mother helped her pack a bag and gave her a bracelet that had belonged to her own mother before her, told her to pack two books – her favourites – and a few clothes. Her mother led her to the dungeons and then to the city, they were both covered in their own cloaks hiding their faces from the people around them. They said goodbye by the ship Myrcella was going to board, they hugged fiercely and whispered in each other ears _I love you_ and _I'll see you again, my love_.

This last day with her mother haunted her memories, and she couldn't fell asleep, so she tried to turn and talk to Aegon but he was already sleeping – he was sleeping, after he told her he couldn't because of the nightmares. So she let him sleep and rested next to him, if he was alive she would say his heartbeat rocked her to sleep, but he wasn't, so something else did…

The next morning she woke up with the sunrise and the birds singing, but more important with his arms around her, she turned and looked at him peacefully sleeping, she didn't want to wake him but there as something she dreamed of doing last night.

She took a deep breath and gathered her courage, she brought her hand to his cheek and brought her lips closer to his, like she had seen Arya and Gendry do, he seemed to wake up with her kiss when he responded and wrapped his hand on her golden curls. Next she tried opening her mouth and reach for him with her tongue but she quickly pulled back when she tasted the blood.

"Good morning!" Aegon said smiling.

"Morning." She said looking down, but he pushed her chin up and asked.

"What's wrong? Didn't you want this?"

"You… blood…"

"It's animal, I promise. Without you and Arya to hunt, I had to find food in the old way."

"Oh…"

"I told you, I don't… drink that."

"Sorry."

"No problem. Are you feeling better?" He asked.

"Yes, I dreamed of you. I'm glad you're back."

"Me too. I missed you too."

"You slept?"

"You made me feel safe. We should get up, I can hear Arya and Gendry making their way outside."

Myrcella got out of the bed and waited for him, who stood up and took his hand between hers – and she knew she could trust him and love him like a woman loves a man…

* * *

It had been one moon since Aegon came back, they had gotten used to calling him by his real name. He and Myrcella had grown closer, when rained he slept in the same bed as her (while all the other times, he wondered to the woods during the night), and she was missing him right now… Arya was mad at Gendry about something, so she had made Myrcella go hunting with her, even if Arya didn't need help.

Myrcella just ran through the woods, thinking how much her life changed in so little time, she had been so sad and broken after her mother's dead, but feeling like she had a family again, helped.

She and Aegon would stay hours talking about their families. She would tell him about playing with Tommen and his kittens, feeling safe in her mother's arms, how father would let her sit in the Iron Throne on her nameday (and how he would tell her stories about Ned and Lyanna Stark), how Uncle Tyrion told her a million and one stories about everything, or how she would go dress fitting with Uncle Renly. Aegon would tell her about life in Essos, how Jon Connington taught him everything he knew and told him stories about his father (she knew he didn't tell how Jon told him stories how evil the Baratheons, Lannisters and Starks were), how Septa Lemore treated him as a son, always making sure if he was eating and sleeping enough or how she could tell him stories about his mother and sister he didn't have any idea how she knew.

They also trusted each other enough to tell why they weren't with their family, after she told him the truth, he had one more reason to hate Tywin Lannister. And she wondered how someone could just leave him because he changed, he told her how two years before after he was coming home from a brothel (he blushed so much telling her that) he was caught by surprise and bitten, how Jon told him he wasn't like Rhaegar anymore and drowned his pain with ale and wine, dying less than a moon later; and that with him everybody else left too.

"'Cella, are you okay?" She heard Arya ask, already naked in her human form. Myrcella changed back to a woman and answered.

"Yes, I was just thinking." They walk back in silence and reached for their cloaks, since Aegon joined Arya had dropped the habit of walking around naked.

Arya dropped the food she caught at Aegon's feet and moved to the forge, while Myrcella joined him, kissing his lips and helping him prepare the animals to be stored, they made small talk while they both worked and their hands kept finding a way of touching each other, until…

"HELP! HELP!" A scream from the forge – Arya's voice. They both immediately ran to them and found her naked holding Gendry's head close to her, with tears in her eyes, whispering over and over again "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You can't die."

When they looked at the rest of Gendry, they saw the giant cut in his stomach, with the blood running out of his body. And they both understand what happened, Arya couldn't control herself and changed – he was just too close… Myrcella knew how Arya was always careful, any sexual encounters they had was always about him, she feared that she would get to excited and change – Myrcella knew it was possible, when she and Aegon kissed for a long time, she would grow claws that pierced his skin (gladly he healed quicker) and more hair, especially in her back (the first time Aegon laughed so loud), and she was always more self-controlled than Arya.

Arya looked at them pleading. "Please I need to save him. He can't die. I can't be alone again." Myrcella gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and whispered.

"You won't…"

"I will… 'Cella, he's…" And then she remembered something, and looking at Aegon's eyes she asked him silently.

"I never…" He said.

"I know, but you got to try, it's his best chance."

"What are you talking about?" Arya asked between sobs.

"Aegon can try to change him."

"I can't promise I will be able to do it, and it's not a good life."

"He'll be here." She whispered. "I can deal that his heart won't beat and that he'll be cold instead of hot." She nodded her head, and Aegon looked in Myrcella's eyes who mouthed _You can do it_, before kneeling and asking Arya to step back, who changed and curled herself at Gendry's feet, both girls looked at the vampire – teeth growing pointier and then piercing his skin…

_Let us be okay, let us be safe, let us be happy…_


End file.
